Queensland Firebirds fly into finals clash with Melbourne Vixens

Momentum is an amazing thing in sport, and the more you have of it, the more you are likely to get.

Which is why the final round of the ANZ Championship was so interesting, in that the results denied momentum to three of the four finalists – while a team that looks dangerously good at the right end of the season kept its momentum and steamrolled its way into second place on the ladder.

Melbourne Vixens and NSW Swifts stumbled their way to first and third respectively, and Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic scraped into fourth position despite its fourth loss in its last five outings.

The only finals-bound team with a win in the final round of the regular season was the Queensland Firebirds, who are looking better every week they play.

With a formidable defensive line, led by outstanding Diamonds captain Laura Geitz, a young, fearless midcourt and the most prolific goal shooter in ANZ Championships history in Romelda Aiken, they are hard to tip against.

The Vixens and Swifts played their own version of The Biggest Loser in the final round, with the minor premiership up for grabs.

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First it was the Vixens, who only had to beat the sixth-ranked Southern Steel to claim the regular-season title.

Worryingly for the Melbourne franchise, they appeared to tighten up when the pressure was on. They looked hesitant in attack and flat-footed in defence.

The same thing happened in the finals last year, and the Vixens will need to show this week that they have somehow morphed into big-game performers if they are to progress through the finals series.

With the Vixens losing, the opportunity was there for the Swifts when they took on Northern Mystics the following day.

A win would have given them the minor premiership and, crucially, the chance to host the major preliminary final with the all-important double chance.

By their coach Rob Wright’s own admission, the pressure of the minor premiership riding on the result got the better of his team. The late withdrawal of midcourter Sarah Wall didn’t help, but it looked like the Swifts took too long to settle into the game, by which point they were playing catch-up against a team that had nothing to lose.

But momentum isn’t built in the week before the finals. It develops over a series of weeks, where you can feel, as a player, that you and your team are heading towards a peak.

Ask any player who has won a premiership in any sport, and there is a feeling within the group that you are on an upward trajectory and are masters of your domain.

From the outside looking in, you get that sense about the Firebirds.

After a dismal start to the season when they lost four of their first seven games, they have not lost a game since round seven. An analysis of the Firebirds' numbers supports this.

A look at the goals for and against percentages of the top four teams over the final five weeks of the season, when teams really start to set themselves for a finals push, is instructive in terms of momentum.

The Firebirds sit on 128 per cent, Vixens on 116 per cent, Swifts on 111 per cent and Magic on 95 per cent. These numbers really do reflect how these teams are performing, and are a good pointer to how the finals series will play out.

The Firebirds enter the finals with their tails up. They are combining impressive form with a sense of invincibility, and will be an incredibly difficult juggernaut for the Vixens to stop in the major semi-final this weekend.